Zanzibar: Boquete Bar


Zanzibar: Boquete Bar

(10 votes)

Written by Claire Saylor

Monday, June 18 2007

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My first visit to Zanzibar took the form of a big countdown to pending sobriety. I arrived on the Thursday of Holy Week, two hours before the planned 48-hour alcohol ban in honor of the holiday. When I entered the bar through the swinging doors framed by large elephant tusks, I was met with a Moroccan hookah bar feel. Couches line two walls with tables and chairs in front like fluffy arms stretching out from the big screen TV in the corner where the baseball championship game was on mute. In the opposite corner was a decent-sized bar lined with African artifacts and an international selection of alcohol.

The two-sided menu is nearly as large as the table and contains popular mixed drinks at $4 a pop, and lists of national and international liquors, and beers starting at $1.50. I ordered an Irish coffee and my friend got two tequila shots, and we made our way to a table to await their arrival. I sat on one of many white wooden chairs that are without arms, and once you take a good look you realize they are statues of ghastly white creatures. You are sitting on a platform resting on the head which rests on its knuckles, while the creatures back side is in the air, leaving a reclined plank of a back for you to rest upon.

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The bar came highly recommended from a variety of sources. The owner is a Greek fellow who was living in Jaco, Costa Rica before his move to Boquete. He spent a large part of his life in South Africa, hence the bar's exotic decour.

There is another side room with a slightly different look with couches and a few tables and two single stall bathrooms. There was an obvious gringo presence, but it seemed well mixed in with local Panamanians. Over the low murmur of voices I found pleasure in listening to one Panamanian trying to teach a gringa how to say "AN - TI - DI - PRES - I - VOS." That must have been an uplifting conversation!

All-in-all the bar was a nice unique change of pace and adds a different flavor to the town. However, it is likely a forecast into the future of what is to come for Boquete as more and more foreigners bring in their mixture of cultures and artsy ideals as they claim the mountain pueblo as their own.

As the staff rushed to close the bar by 11:30pm and shoo everyone out by midnight, their attentive instincts gave way to some rather rude intimidation tactics, the least of which was turning on the bright overhead lights exposing the unwanted details of the night - better left hidden from view. That, a small pack of unfriendly guests and the knowledge that I could get a better deal on drinks elsewhere, left me with the conclusion that I don't think I will be making it my local watering hole anytime soon.